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Sustainable fish farming practices providing food for the futire
Best practices at the heart of fish farming expansion
Aquaculture is poised to be a major contributor to the world’s food bank, and practising sustainability at an early stage can promise a safer future.
ACCORDING TO A study by the World Bank, Aquaculture is projected to be the prime source of seafood by 2030, as demand grows from the global middle class and wild capture fisheries approach their maximum take. The organisation says that when practised responsibly, fish farming can help provide livelihoods and feed a global population that will reach nine billion by 2050.
Sustainable business and farm management practices seem to be the answer, along with measures such as effective biosecurity and disease control systems; minimal antibiotic and pharmaceutical use; microbial sanitation; maintaining global standards for hygiene; efficient and humane harvest and transport; accountable recordkeeping and traceability and profitability.
Headquartered in Singapore, aquaculture company Barramundi aims to put fish from its new West Australian farm on international menus.
Barramundi Group Australia, the company’s Australian operations has announced its 10-year project which is expected to have a capital spend of around US$350mn, with significant expenditure on the local economy, including creating 350-400 direct jobs and local business opportunities for the region as production increases.
Barramundi Group chief executive officer Andreas von Scholten said the company had been collaborating with environmental consultants for several years to develop a strategy to sustainably grow production in the region over the next decade. The plan considers best management practices including fallowing, biosecurity, and a scale-up process at a rate that allows adaptive management.
Andreas also said that the company has identified 13 marine sites that will ultimately allow it to sustainably expand to a capacity of 30,000 tonnes of production annually and are also proposing to develop three land-based fish nurseries and a processing facility in the region.
“A strategy underpinned by environmental custodianship leads to fantastic product quality, good fish welfare and consistent and sustainable production without compromising the pristine environment in which we operate,” von Scholten furthered.
Barramundi also said that evolving practices, adaptive management and thirdparty certifications enable the company to gain confidence from the community about best practices in food safety, environmental responsibility, social accountability, and animal health and welfare. ■
The 13 marine sites will potentially and sustainably expand to a capacity of 30,000 tonnes of production annually.
Developing green value chains for the continent
COUNTRIES ACROSS ASIA and the Pacific are joining an initiative to promote and showcase the ‘best of the best’ of their special agricultural products – a move designed to ensure a high level of participation from smallholders to producers to exporters and others all along the value chain.
To help build momentum, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched the ‘Global Action on Green Development of Special Agricultural Products: One Country One Priority Product (OCOP) in Asia and the Pacific,’ encouraging countries of the region to join the initiative, developing green value chains and promoting their special agricultural products internationally.
Close to 250 participants from countries across Asia and the Pacific attended the virtual launch, including ministries of agriculture, senior government officials, technical experts, and representatives of development partners, research institutes, and the private sector. Specialists from other regions of the world also joined the event.
OCOP was launched globally by the FAO director-general, QU Dongyu, in September 2021. The launch of this regional, AsiaPacific global action of OCOP aims to develop green and sustainable value chains for special agricultural products, while supporting smallholders and family farmers to reap the full benefits of access to a global market, ultimately helping the transformation of current agrifood systems. The ultimate aim is to achieve better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all – leaving no one behind.
In an opening address, Beth Bechdol, FAO deputy directorgeneral, outlined the many specialty agricultural products the region has to offer to the world. “The Asia-Pacific region is special, home to more than 50% of the world’s population, where agricultural development and rural livelihoods are a top priority – a region with a long and rich history of agricultural development,” she said, adding that participation in OCOP was a great opportunity for all countries in the region.
The regional OCOP launch event included the participation and presentations of government ministers from China, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Samoa and Thailand. Ministerial-level interventions were also made on behalf of their governments by participants from Bhutan and the Solomon Islands.
The attendees from Asia and the Pacific nations spoke highly of the special agricultural products their countries and sub-regions
A greater focus on the export of produce through horticulture and cash crops was discussed.
can offer the world – products that go well beyond the staple foods that most people consume. ■
